The final drive began with a pick by Jerrion McMillain that was wiped out by a bogus roughing the passer penalty on Erik Walden. I was willing to let that go in light of a phantom interference penalty on the Pack's previous touchdown drive. OK, we're even. Then on first and 38, Sam Shields is flagged to give new life to a series that was on life support. Terrible call.

But the final play of the game was an absolute affront to NFL football. Golden Tate pushes off Sam Shields and then tries to get his hands on an interception by MD Jennings. Inexplicably it's ruled a touchdown. How does a zebra standing right over the play award that ball to the receiver? How do you watch the replay and not change your mind?

How does this play not end the referee lockout?

In the end, it's the most heartbreaking way to lose a game imaginable. After a disastrous first half where Rodgers was sacked eight times, the team made all the needed adjustments at halftime. The Packers completely dominated the second half. They came out running with Cedric Benson and Rodgers found his rhythm.

The defense was terrific all night long. Marshawn Lynch was bottled up--he got his yards but didn't break anything big. Rookie Russell Wilson made one play on the touchdown pass. The rest of the night he was overmatched by the Packers defense. Big picture, the defense is coming along nicely. Rookies McMillain, Perry and Heyward all made big plays.

The Pack did enough to win. In fact they did win. The referees just decided to make the wrong call at the worst possible time. Their third horrible call of the drive. Three strikes and the Pack was out. Can't write anymore. Too disgusted.

Update: Upon further review, the first two bad calls I mentioned happened in the second to last drive. Clearly I wasn't thinking straight as I pounded the keyboard. Doesn't change a thing. An embarrassing night for the NFL.

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Comments (29):

on September 24th, 2012 at 11:28pm

Dave, I didn't think we could possibly reach a new low in the replacement ref saga. Unfortunately, I vastly underestimated their incompetence. This had to be one of the all time examples of getting jobbed. Not once, not twice but three times on the final drive. Unbelievable. We may just have to put an asterik next to this entire season since no team is safe from this mess.

Alon September 24th, 2012 at 11:29pm

Utterly discusting...Embarassment for NFL....Stupified....beyond angry.....Davy you can not pick one. Worst sports call in the history of any sport.....even worst than that call in the Olympic Basketball game years ago that denied America the gold. This is a billion dollar industry that is spitting in the face of the fans,players, and the game. And it wasnt only this last call....there are way too many. Cant sleep.....too disgused.

OLD SOUTH SIDE GUYon September 24th, 2012 at 11:35pm

I'm still nauseated. I think what I just watched was a nightmare. These replacement refs are an embarrassment and don't deserve a paycheck. I watched Mike McCarthy's post game press conference and he looked like he wanted to take someone's head off. I don't blame him. The integrity of the game is completely lost with replacement refs. This season is a joke so far. What a travesty tonight was. I'm speechless.

Debon September 24th, 2012 at 11:37pm

Screwed. If the NFL had any integrity left, they would come out and say, "no, everyone knows that was an INT - the refs were horse#$%&, the League is over-ruling the play and we're also reinstating the regular refs effective IMMEDIATELY!

rjkon September 24th, 2012 at 11:49pm

There's still plenty of blame to put on our own guys. It's hard to find success in the run game when you don't call more than 2 run plays in a half, give up 8sacks, have long drives ending with field goals, but despite all that to go down because of what we saw on the last drive and have the refs give it away. It hurts.

Jeremyon September 24th, 2012 at 11:50pm

There has been some talk... with these replacement refs in place, a few people in Vegas "MIGHT" be able to reach a few of these refs... What do you think tonight? It was the same ref who called the TD also called the offensive oops I mean def pass interference on Shields....

gbp13gbp13on September 25th, 2012 at 01:02am

Its offical, World is coming to an end. When Packer/Bear fans, Packer/Vikings fans, Redskins/Cowboys fans, Kanas City/Denver fans, Philly/Giants fans and even Oakland fans that they all agree the replacement refs are badddddddddddddd!!!! Keeping it clean for the kids and being a union bro we call them something else

gbp13gbp13on September 25th, 2012 at 01:04am

Absurd to think anybody actually believes that was "simultaneous possession " so I refuse to argue the point. Were there a lot of bad calls on both sides? Yes Did Seattle take it to the Pack's O-Line in the 1st half? Yes. But GB came storming back and completely dominated the entire 2nd half (great to see Ced running so well; hated that 2-point conversion play call). Hopefully the pack uses this game as motivation for rest of the season and hopefully the loss in the rankings doesn't hurt our playoff chances. Bigger question: we ALL agree that it is time for reg refs to get back on the field and we, the fans, need to put pressure on the owners. But how? Stop watching the games?? We all love it too much. So how about we stop buying NFL apparel until the real refs are back? I have enough Packer shirts, jerseys, and flags that I can get by without buying anymore. Hitting the Jerry Jones of the world in their pocketbook seems to be the only way to get them to give a crap about the fans. Or does somebody else have a better idea? Maybe we should start protesting outside the homes of the NFL owners? We have packer fans in alll 50 states and would certainly be joined by "true" football fans from other teams. Any ideas for ways to have the fans voice actually heard?

The Trashmanon September 25th, 2012 at 01:11pm

The game should not have been this close. The 8 sacks were ridiculous, bad play calling if you ask me. I thought the first half was poor coaching by Mike,why wait till halftime to make some adjustments. They should not have been in that position at the end of the game. There was some really bad calls, especially the last one. It is hard to believe a call like that can be made.

Jamieon September 25th, 2012 at 01:16am

Packerlifer hit the nail on the head. It should have never come down to the last play of the game with the mistakes that were made leading up to this fiasco, but I think all of us, including the Viking trolls, can take something positive away from this. For starters, bad play calling had nothing to do with any of this, and 99% of the time it never does. It's not the plays...it's the execution of the plays. Coaches may make the calls, but the players have to carry them out and do their collective jobs. Today I've seen a fair amount of jumping up and down by some who think that the proper thing to do would be to take the touchdown off the board and award the game to the Packers. I will emphatically say to them, "Absolutely NOT!" This would set a very dangerous precident going forward from here, and as bad as this situation might be right now, it would only get worse. This particular moment goes far beyond an "L" for the Packers; it should be a significant mile marker for the entire league, and a black mark that everyone directly involved with the game can point to and say, "This was a huge mistake." Of course, the word "this" can encompass not only the fouled up call, but the entire referee situation. This situation needs to be dealt with, and soon. The only really good thing about it is that it happened on a national platform. I'm just as frustrated as the rest of you, but if this blown call is the spark that gets this situation resolved, we'll all feel better. Until then, the Saints may want to think twice before their trip north next week - it could get ugly (for them).

Bill, the voice of reasonon September 25th, 2012 at 03:54pm

Let me address this to the Queens fans here: I'm not that upset about this game because as a Packers fan I have some things to console me that you don't and probably never will.
Even getting robbed of a win I can still take solace in our club's history of 13 world championships, including 4 Super Bowl wins, one less than two years ago.
This game is a slight blemish on the current Packers season, which will still turn out far better than what Minisota manages to do. At the end of the season Green Bay will be in the playoffs again the the Queenies will be discussing who to take with a top five draft pick and whether to keep their head coach.
The Yikes upset an overconfident and complacent 49ers team on Sunday but every one is talking about the Packers getting jobbed out of a win Monday night. What does that tell you about superiority?

Packerliferon September 25th, 2012 at 04:47pm

Look, 85% of the Viking fans agree with the rest of the league that the call was bull. Don't feed the trolls here by going down to their level.
What's done is done Packer fans - hopefully this will be a catalyst for the rest of the season and give them the "chip on their shoulder" mentality which drove them to the Super Bowl two years ago.

Ryanon September 25th, 2012 at 05:00pm

Yeah, the Packers got robbed by wrong officiating calls and the whole world knows it. But the game shouldn't have been close enough for the zebras to make such a difference and this game shows what can happen when a team doesn't take care of its business.
Had Driver caught the td pass from Rodgers in the third quarter the Pack would have been up 17-7 and the calls on Seattle's final two possessions wouldn't have made any difference.
Not to mention that 8 sack first half with only 2 running plays called. It'll be interesting to hear the explanations of why the Packers didn't come in with the game plan they showed in the second half to start with.
The robbery loss is bitter but doesn't cost us the season. There are still 13 games left and the Packers will win at least 10 or 11 of them.
The offense coming to life in the second half is a good sign of things to come. They should have a feast at Lambeau against the Saints sieve defense next Sunday. And the defense has been terrific the past two weeks.
A game like this should be a good teacher and motivator for the rest of the season.

Packerliferon September 25th, 2012 at 05:20am

Quit cryin' in your beer and blaming the refs, cheese-heads. Fact is you gave up 9 sacks to a mediocre line that only had 2 sacks all year coming into last night. What do you think Jared Allen, Robison, and KWill are going to do to that line? Hurt you real bad? No kid, hurt you PERMANENT.

Caneon September 25th, 2012 at 08:29am

Typical fudepackers making excuses. the bad calls are going both ways all year long. deal with it. you got out-played and your OL was down right embarrassing. the OL shoot on AR all night.

Smokey Mcpoton September 25th, 2012 at 08:39am

Two years ago, during a Monday Night Football game, Visante Schiancoe was robbed of a TD catch by a bad call. Later, the Packers second string TE (can't remember his name) got awarded a TD that was actually a drop. The NFL offices came out the next day and said both calls were incorrect. That's a 14 point swing in a game that the Packers eventually won by a very small margin. They went on to BARELY make the playoffs as the #6 seed and went on to win the Superbowl, and it wouldn't have been possible without a bad call from the real refs. (they also benefited from a bad call in the Giants vs Eagles game in week 17 that led to The Packers getting in the playoffs as well)
That's how refs work in sports. Sometimes they gift you, like in the example above. Heck, Packers benefited from some questionable calls last night. And sometimes they screw you. And as an athlete or fan, you know that. So what you do is make sure you're not in a position where one call can decide the fate of the game. If I were a Packers fan (God forbid), I'd be A LOT more worried about my Swiss Cheese Offensive Line letting Rodgers get sacked EIGHT TIMES in the first half, then one blown call in a game that featured over five, some of which helped set up a Packers TD.

Screechon September 25th, 2012 at 08:43am

It sucks, but what are you going to do? This happens on occasion so all you can do is get ready to play the winless Saints. I think that they are going to be really hungry for a victory, so this won't be any walk in the park.

Steamshovel McGeeon September 25th, 2012 at 09:06am

OK...lets look at this as a business decision by a billion dollar company in a mult billion dollar industry ...which the NFL is. If you put out a product that is at fault ( replacement refs) you recall your product and replace it. You do not leave your product in the market where it can cause future damage. Think of all the bad product that is recalled from peanut butter to Thlynol. This industry is arrogant and they better start listening to their customers before it is completely turned off and they start losing integrity.....which is only shown by their bottom lines.

OLD SOUTH SIDE GUYon September 25th, 2012 at 09:07am

Boooooooo-hooooooooo!!!!!!! Pretty sure Screech summed it up for you guys. You want to cry like a bunch of babies because your team lost? Go Ahead. Just know that your offense did nothing for half that game last night and it still comes down to making plays. Why is nobody complaining that Jennings didn't knock it down? If we knocks that down instead of going for a pick, games over, Pack covers the spread and everyone's over here singing the praises of how a tough gritty Packer team gutted it out till the end. The truth of the matter is that the game wouldn't even be close if you had at least two offensive lineman that could pass for serviceable starters in this league. Keep crying while I laugh in your faces!

TireManon September 25th, 2012 at 09:09am

Vikings fans prove they are classless once again on here. It is true that you can't fix stupid.

Jamieon September 25th, 2012 at 09:32am

Advice on how to handle end of game situations from Viking fans? Right, because those fans know all about their team closing in big moments. IALTO

Alon September 25th, 2012 at 09:36am

let's quit whining. Vince didn't whine. No one is to blame but yourself.

Derek Walczakon September 25th, 2012 at 10:03pm

Well, the events cap a disastrous decision by the NFL to lock out the refs. I'm glad I waited 'till this morning to comment because I've calmed down some-yeah we got ripped, but the humor provided by the Viking fans showing their ignornace and stupidity sure made reading this blog an enjoyable experience.

Garyon September 25th, 2012 at 10:28am

I've seen prison movies with less man-on-man rape than I did last night watching Woodson. That guy has no shame with his blatant pass interference, and never has had any shame. Luckily last year he finally starting getting called on his bullshit, I can't wait for the real refs to be back so the GB secondary has to play honest football.

Contentoon September 25th, 2012 at 10:45am

1-2 with a legitimate beef with the replacement refs is still worse that 2-1 with a win over the 49ers. Nothing about that is different.
Keep crying cheeseheads.

deakonon September 25th, 2012 at 10:58pm

Hey queenies fans. Why don't you go put on your helga horns and play with your little toy swords and shields and worry about your own pathetic squad's 52 years of inept futility. The fact that the Packers are the most storied franchise in the NFL is the reason that there will probably, finally be an end to this idiotic impasse between the league and the officials. If this had happened to the queens, the league and the rest of the country would just chalk it up to one more footnote in the lavender's already considerable pantheon of woes. Better enjoy your fluke win over the 49ers because even a blind squirrel find a nut once in a blue moon.

ceeray34on September 25th, 2012 at 11:47am

Dave,
Those first two calls were on the previous drive, not the final drive. They were both brutal as well. From what I was hearing from the four letter network referee, the replay official cannot chamge the call if it is deemed a simulatenous catch like Richard Simmons did on the field. Let's get real though, the8 first half sacks killed us and now we have a monster game at Lambeau next week....

Ralphieon September 25th, 2012 at 12:22am

Am happy to be waking up this morning to see that the league and the officials have reached an agreement -- although a little too late in terms of costing us that game on Monday night. Onward and outward. Will be returning home from Lincoln, NE (in support of my Badgers) on Sunday so will miss your live broadcast but will listen to the archive upon return. GO PACK GO!!